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The success brought about by the Kickstarter-funded Popa shutter button has very little to do with money. “It’s not going to make you rich, no,” he says laughing, barely able to get the words out. The reward is much deeper. “I was with my nephews the other week,” he begins solemnly, “one is six and one is nine-years old. I put it on the phone, the app fires up, and they just ran around the room taking photos. For me it was actually a bit overwhelming and emotional.” Brendan pauses. “Ideas are nothing without execution and becoming real. For me, that’s what Kickstarter facilitates. It’s not about getting rich.” Brendan begins laughing again, “there must be fucking easier ways of making money.

“Kickstarted: How one company is revolutionizing product development” (The Verge)

Seems like “it’s not going to make you rich” points towards something very important: while it’s easy to think of Kickstarter as a fundraising platform in the technical sense, I think it’s much more of a platform in the metaphorical “stage” — or possibly “soapbox” — sense of the word.

That the actual fundraising component exists (and how it’s implemented) matters a great deal, of course, but I think that the core of Kickstarter is the difference between someone saying “I want to make money” and someone saying “I want to make THIS.”

Source: yancey